Largely unchanged in a half-century, the invention still elicits "oohs" and "ahs" in the tech-savvy Bay Area.

Maybe it's the name. Maybe it's the gravity-defying air cushion it rides upon, leading many to call it "futuristic," even though it was invented in the same decade as the push-button telephone.

Perhaps it is the practical side: A craft that can skim across the shallowest of the Bay's ubiquitous mud flats at highway speeds no dredging required and scoot right up onto a beach or airport tarmac.

Or maybe it's the long-held belief among both enthusiasts and struggling manufacturers that ...

Find more facts and information related to the article "Hovercraft surfacing again"